


Stolen Hearts

by Carmenlire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Chance Meetings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Thief Alec Lightwood, Thief Magnus Bane, Valentine's Day, White Collar Crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 20:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: “That’s my statue, Bane, and you know it.”“Do I?” Magnus’s eyes narrow as he studies the piece in his hands. His smile is slow and makes Alec’s mouth dry when he continues insouciant, “Finders keepers, darling.”Or, Magnus and Alec keep flirting when theyshouldbe completing heists.





	Stolen Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day part II!

Walking through the Gallery, Alec feels anticipation trickle down his spine. This job was one of his bigger hauls and just the thought of getting his hands on the sixteenth century sculpture has has pulse spiking.

He’s a professional, though, and even if excitement is lighting him up on the inside, he’s outwardly calm and cool.

His black combat boots make no sound on the marble floor as he makes his unerring way towards the location of his target. Thankfully, the owners of this villa were away for the week-- off on a weekend getaway to Napa Wine Country-- and Alec had the place to himself.

Studying the blueprints and security system had been no mean feat and these twenty minutes are the culmination of dozens of man hours and months of careful planning.

Alec’s in the zone-- the plan seared onto his memory-- but he can’t keep his thoughts from straying.

To _him_.

Shaking his head impatiently at himself, he freezes at Isabelle’s hissed warning that sounds in his ear just as a random red laser appears across his path. He's still for sixty full seconds before it disappears and Alec breathes a minute sigh of relief as he resumes his route.

Making the final turn to where the stature is, Alec allows himself a grin. Truth be told, he was getting too old for this shit and he’d been thinking long and hard about getting out of the game. Everything seemed too tame, too stale. There was no fun in it any longer and Alec had amassed a fortune that he could live on for several lifetimes.

He had two more heists to carry out and then Alexander Lightwood, known in certain circles as the shadowhunter, was disappearing into myth and legend as a notorious thief and member of the White Collar’s Top Ten Most Wanted List.

Alec takes one step into the statue room of Aldertree’s mansion and freezes in his tracks.

 _“Son of a bitch_.”

Isabelle is demanding answers through his ear piece but all Alec can focus on is the fucking _cupcake_ sitting right where his prized Hercules and Antaeus statuette should be.

Putting his hands to his hips, Alec lets his head fall back to stare at the ceiling as he closes his eyes and counts to ten.

He gets to four before shaking his head and moving closer to where Magnus Bane had just ruined everything-- _again_.

“Goddamnit, Magnus,” Alec swears and he doesn’t even startle as a voice sounds behind him.

“You rang?”

Turning around, Alec glares at the man in front of him. He and Magnus had been dancing around each other for years. It had started out with the two of them bumping into each other while casing the same museum and five years later, Alec was more surprised than not when he didn’t run into Magnus during a job.

Alec’s gaze drops down to Magnus’s hands and he swears again, turning the air blue with his exasperation. “That’s my statue, Bane, and you know it.”

“Do I?” Magnus’s eyes narrow as he studies the piece in his hands. His smile is slow and makes Alec’s mouth dry when he continues insouciant, “Finders keepers, darling.”

“I’ve been researching Aldertree for six damn months, Magnus, and I’m not going to let you come in here at the eleventh hour and swipe Hercules and Antaeus right out from under me.”

Magnus doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, clearly thinking before he starts to nod slowly. “You know what, Alexander? You’re right. It is right dastardly of me to take what’s yours with impunity. Maybe-- just this once-- I’ll let you keep your little treasure.”

Immediately suspicious, Alec studies Magnus from where they stand several yards apart. The Gallery is eerily quiet and Alec can’t figure out what’s going on. Magnus has never let him have anything and it doesn’t make sense that he would start now.

“Why,” he asks warily. “Why would you hand a sculpture reputedly worth thirty two million dollars to me without arguing?”

Setting the statue down on the marble floor, the delicate ping of metal against marble is loud in the silence.

Magnus walks closer towards him and Alec can’t quite seem to get his wits about him. Magnus always looks good-- lethal yet elegant-- and tonight is no different. He wears black to distraction and his fitted pants look painted on.

Alec’s mouth waters no matter how many times he calls himself a fucking idiot for being attracted to the only man who’s just as sought after by the feds.

Magnus doesn’t stop until he’s standing right in front of Alec. They’re rarely so close and it’s been a few months since they’ve seen each other-- not since Alec had joined Magnus for a drink at his hideaway bar, The Hunter’s Moon, and warned him that word on the street was that Camille was about to go turncoat against Magnus in exchange for a lighter sentence.

The sharp intake of breath is achingly audible in the empty room and Magnus’s eyes fall down to Alec’s mouth for an earth shattering three seconds before he lifts them back up to meet Alec’s gaze.

“A little birdie told me that you’re going straight, darling.”

Chuckling, Alec’s eyes warm as he grins. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that if I was you, Magnus.”

Magnus immediately understands the hidden innuendo and he laughs too. Alec knows that it’s not his imagination when Magnus leans closer into his space.

“A poor choice of words on my part,” Magnus acknowledges wryly. “In any case, it looks like I won’t be running into you anymore in these dark, secluded spaces. More’s the pity,” Magnus says with an arched brow, “But I’m happy for you, Alexander. I hope that the next chapter of your life-- while frightfully dull and legal-- is just what you want.”

“So-- what? You’re just giving me Hercules and Antaeus because you want to throw me a bone?”

Magnus’s eyes light up and Alec glares at him, watches in amusement as his arch nemesis and greatest thorn in his side, makes a dramatic display of keeping his mouth closed.

Sighing, Magnus reaches for Alec’s chin. His grasp is firm and it’s astonishing how Alec doesn’t feel trapped. Quite the contrary, in fact. It’s absurd, but he feels safe.

“Want to know a secret?” Magnus doesn’t wait for Alec to agree before he’s continuing, “I’m leaving this life behind, too. Really, I’m already done and ready to set up a legitimate business. A night club in Brooklyn,” he confides to Alec who takes the news with a small pang.

“What are you doing here then,” Alec asks, tongue darting out to lick his lips.

“I heard you’d be here tonight and thought I’d give you a send-off. I couldn’t resist having a little fun with you, Alexander. You always make it so easy to ruffle your feathers.”

“So, what’s this? A goodbye?”

Tilting his head, Magnus regards Alec with a warm look, fondness overlaid with something that Alec can’t quite decipher.

“This is whatever you want it to be, Alec.” His lips graze the shell of Alec’s ear as he whispers, “Happy Valentine’s Day, darling.”

Letting go of Alec, Magnus takes a step back. Adjusting his ear cuff, he jerks his chin towards the pedestal where the statue had sat and where currently resides a goddamn cupcake.

“I bought that especially for you, you know. Don’t forget it on your way out.”

Magnus is a few feet away when he finally pauses. He doesn’t say anything right away, instead taking the time to study Alec and give him a thorough once over.

His mouth tips up in a grin that barely moves his mouth, even if his eyes are dancing. “I hope I see you around, Alexander. Whatever the case, good luck and best wishes.”

Nodding somberly, Alec replies, “You too, Magnus. Thank you.”

His voice is quiet, trailing off at the end and with a last searing look, Alec turns around and leaves as quietly as he’d appeared.

Alec counts to thirty before he moves and then he goes directly to the pedestal. Once he sees the cupcake in full he laughs-- much louder than he should but he just can’t swallow the sound.

It’s a pink cupcake with swirling frosting. There’s a single candy heart in the middle that reads _Cutie Pie_.

It’s delightfully cheesy and Alec smiles. In the next minute, however, he sees the small white card underneath and is reaching for it before he even knows what’s happening.

The only thing on the front is his first name and when Alec opens it, there’s nothing but a phone number written in elegant script.

Alec feels butterflies kick at the potential this card represents, at the knowledge that Magnus wanted to continue their acquaintance even if they were both retired and logically, didn’t ever need to talk to each other again.

Sliding the card carefully into his pocket, Alec picks up the cupcake and holds it in a gentle hand while he takes the statue on his way out.

His last job is flawless as always and as promised, the shadowhunter is never heard from again, much to the FBI’s lasting exasperation.

 

For his part, Alec starts writing a book. It’s several months later when he has the draft to the first in a supposed adventure series about the fictional life of a world-renowned art thief finished. Sitting back in his chair, Alec looks away from the blinking cursor on his laptop screen and his gaze snags on the top drawer of his desk.

Reaching out, Alec slides the drawer open and takes out a pristine white card. He turns it in his hands and debates for a moment before reaching for his phone.

It might be a little late but Alec wonders what Magnus would think about an early-- _very_ early-- Valentine’s Day dinner. 

He wonders where one gets candy hearts this time of year.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on tumblr or twitter @carmenlire!


End file.
